


Just Another Hyūga

by not_hylia



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, OOC Hyuuga Hinata, a little ooc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29328186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_hylia/pseuds/not_hylia
Summary: Minami is just another ninja looking to go on missions and protect her village. Along with her two best friends, will she be able to handle the hardships ninja life throws at them? Or will she sink under the pressure?Rated Teen for language.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s), Hyuuga Hinata & Original Character(s), Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 14





	1. Minami Hyūga

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, and I'm just doing this in my spare time. There will be some alterations and OCs for a new ninja squad. Constructive criticism welcome. I hope you enjoy!

“Where’s Iruka-sensei? He should be here by now,” a certain pink-haired girl stated loudly.

“She’s right, it’s been 10 minutes and he’s still not here,” Minami told her best friend, Takuya. “Come to think of it, Naruto isn’t here either.”

“Iruka-sensei is probably chasing after Naruto right now. Naruto’s always up to something,” Takuya responded.

“You’re probably right.” Minami sighed and set her chin in her palm as she stared out the window. And then she saw it. The Hokages’ faces were… graffitied. No doubt this was Naruto’s fault. Takuya saw Minami staring out the window and craned his neck to see what she was staring at.

“I knew he’d be up to trouble, but I didn’t think it would be something like this. Naruto must really be an idiot if he’d try something like that. He’s gonna hear it from Iruka-sensei.” Takuya leaned back and huffed. “We’re gonna be waiting for an hour before class starts. Hey, wanna skip and get some dango instead?”

“I’m not letting you skip! Do you want to get held back?” Another voice had joined the duo. Takuya leaned his head back to look at the brunet that had joined them.

“You’re no fun, Satoru.” Takuya complained.

“We can always get dango after school,” Minami said, “Plus, we’ll be graduating soon, and we won’t even be at the academy anymore, so just be patient.”

“Man, you guys never let me have fun,” Takuya muttered under his breath. Satoru sighed and sat down on the other side of Minami. 

After a few more minutes had passed, Iruka-sensei walked into the classroom, dragging a tied-up Naruto with him. He then started lecturing Naruto.

“I’m at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, and you’re messing up again!” Naruto just huffs in response. “Fine! Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!” Takuya groaned along with the majority of the class, and Minami just shook her head. It’s not that it was hard, it was just annoying to have to do it again.

First up was the same pink-haired girl from before. “All right, Sakura here. Let’s do it. Transform!” There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly there were two copies of Iruka. The sensei praised Sakura, and after transforming back, she immediately turned to the Uchiha to see if he witnessed what a great job she did. The Uchiha, however, acted as if she wasn’t even there and stepped up to go next. 

Sasuke’s results were the same as Sakura’s, and he carelessly walked away as Naruto was called on next. The Yamanaka and Nara yelled at Naruto for making them do this test again, but Naruto just ignored them. He stepped forward and… transformed into a _very_ naked girl.

“Haha! Gotcha! That’s my sexy jutsu!” Naruto shouted proudly. Iruka-sensei scolded him (again!) for playing such stupid tricks. Minami sighed. She couldn’t wait to get out of the academy.

Once they had finished retaking the transformation test and going over more school work, the bell had finally rung. Takuya ran out of the academy and into the streets, with Satoru and Minami close behind.

“Man, that was so boring! Next time I’m just going to skip,” Takuya said.

“Takuya, you’re one of the top students in the class. You should start acting like it,” Satoru said.

“Just because I’m smart doesn’t mean I have to be a role model. Right, Mina?”

“I guess you’re right, but you should at least not think about ditching school all the time.” Minami responded.

“Hey, who’s side are you on? Oh, look, there’s the convenience store. Dango, here I come!” Takuya ran for the store and Minami just sighed.

“I swear, he has the attention span of a rock,” Satoru said. Minami snickered and pushed open the door to the convenience store. There were a few people inside wandering around, and Minami could easily spot Takuya.

“Which one should we get, Green Tea or Cherry?” Takuya questioned thoughtfully.

“Why don’t we just get both and split them like we usually do?” Minami asked.

“I don’t have enough money.”

“Get a job.”

“As if! The only option at our age is to babysit the Suzuki’s kids. I’m not watching them! They’re the devil’s spawn!” Takuya said. Satoru sighed.

“I can split the cost with you. Just remember, it was your turn to pay today, so I won’t help you again in the future.” Satoru remarked.

“Come on guys, they only cost like three dollars, you don’t need to be so stingy!”

“Will you just shut up and split the cost? I don’t have all day,” Minami grumbled.

“Training again?” Satoru asked.

“Yep. It’s always a pain. But seriously, I only have like half an hour before I have to be at the compound,” Minami said. Takuya paid for the dango and the trio headed outside to walk around the village. The three laughed and talked for about twenty minutes and eventually reached the Hyūga compound.

“Well, I’ll see you guys later,” Minami said.

“Bye!” Satoru and Takuya said as they walked off.

“Don’t forget, you’re paying tomorrow!” Takuya called back. Minami chose to ignore him and walked through the gates to her own personal hell. It’s not that she hated training, it was just difficult at times. Especially since she had a hard time at taijutsu. She was just lucky to not be a part of the main branch. She couldn’t imagine the training Hinata had to go through. 

She walked to the training grounds, but didn’t see her uncle anywhere. That’s odd. By the time she got home, he was usually waiting for her to return with a disapproving look on his face. Instead, she was greeted by her older brother. 

“Neji? Where’s uncle?” Minami questioned. 

“He had important matters to attend to. He asked me to spar with you today.” Neji responded. Oh, this was going to be fun. Minami hardly ever got to see Neji due to the fact that he was always on missions. But now, they could spend time together, just the two of them. Even if it’s just training.

After a few hours of training and one giant dinner, Minami stood in her room anxiously. Tomorrow was the graduation test, and she was excited, yet nervous. She knew she was just overthinking, the exam was simple and anyone could do it. Well, anyone except Naruto… Minami shook the thought and hopped in bed, trying not to think about the next day’s events and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Graduation Test

“When your name is called, please proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu,” Iruka-sensei told the class. Minami heard Naruto groan from across the classroom. He must have a hard time with the clone jutsu. It was simple, really. Minami couldn’t understand why he had such a hard time figuring it out. Oh well, everyone has their weaknesses. _Just like how I suck at taijutsu…_ But still, a clone was pretty simple.

Minami sat in anticipation as Satoru and Takuya left to take the final test. It was so boring to just sit around and wait. After a good 10 minutes, Hinata called out to Minami.

“M-Minami? It’s your turn next,” The shy Hyūga informed her cousin.

“Thanks, Hinata. How’d it go?” Minami asked.

“I passed,” Hinata said.

“Good job Hinata! Looks like all that training paid off!” Minami praised.

“T-thank you, Minami,” Hinata said quietly, “Good luck.” Minami left the classroom and went to where the test would take place. As she entered the room, she saw Iruka-sensei along with another chūnin at the desk.

“Alright, Minami, you’re up. Show us what you’ve got.” Minami made a hand sign and four clones poofed into existence around her. “Nice job, Minami! You pass. You can take a headband from the table.” As Minami took a headband, she could hear Iruka-sensei mutter, “Naruto could learn a thing or two from his classmates…” She assumed that Naruto didn’t pass the test. How many times has he failed? Three times now? _Maybe I should go help him… or, better yet, I could get Hinata to help him!_

“Thank you, sensei,” Minami said politely.

“Of course. You earned it. Now, could you please get Shikamaru for me?” Iruka-sensei asked. Minami nodded and returned to the classroom. 

“Shikamaru, it’s your turn next,” she informed him.

“Oh man, this is gonna be a drag. I can’t wait to get out of this stupid academy,” Shikamaru complained. _I feel ya, Shikamaru,_ Minami thought.

After a half hour, the bell had rung and all the kids ran outside.

“See that?” One kid said excitedly.

“Passed with flying colors!” Another cheered.

“Hey, Mina! How was it?” Takuya asked as the trio headed outside.

“It was good. I passed. I’m guessing you guys did too?” Minami said.

“Well, obviously. Are we not wearing our headbands?” Takuya asked sarcastically. Minami rolled her eyes and quickly spotted Naruto sitting on the swing alone. “Hey, wanna get some dango?”

“Not today. I have training,” Minami quickly stated as she devised a plan in her head.

“Are you just saying that so you don’t have to pay?” Satoru asked. “And don’t you have training in a couple hours? You should have enough time to hang out with us.”

“Yeah, well, I… promised Hinata I would train with her. See ya later!” Minami left without a second thought and searched for her cousin. Once she found Hinata, she stopped her to explain her plan. “Hey Hinata, you know how Naruto failed his test again?”

“Y-yeah…” Hinata stuttered.

“Well, I think you should go offer to help him.”

“W-w-what? I-I can’t do that!” The Hyūga said as her whole face turned red.

“Why not? You just need to show him how it’s done!”

“Well…”

“Well what? Go talk to him! I’ll come with you if you want.” Hinata paused for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay, I’ll do it!” She said.

“Alright! He’s right over there…” Minami looked in the direction of the swing. Naruto wasn’t there. “Huh, he must have already left…” She turned and saw the disappointed look on Hinata’s face. “I’m sure there will be other opportunities to train with him,” she said. Hinata just nodded, her head still tilted downward.

“Hey, do you wanna get some cinnamon rolls?” Minami quickly asked, as she knew cinnamon rolls were Hinata’s favorite. Her cousin lightened up and nodded. “Great. Let’s go!” Minami and Hinata walked off towards the convenience store together. Sure, she felt bad for ditching her friends, but she could use some girl time with her favorite cousin. It gets a little annoying being around guys all the time.

After they finished their cinnamon rolls and caught up with each other, they headed to the Hyūga estate to train.


	3. Squads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where the story will start diverging from canon. In this chapter, Naruto never transforms into Sasuke. Enjoy!

“Is that Naruto?” Takuya asked. “What is he doing here? I thought he failed the graduation exam.”

“I guess not. Maybe something happened for him to pass? I can’t imagine what, though,” Minami said. It was a surprise, sure, but Minami wasn’t sure if it was a welcome one. She bore no ill will to him just because of the fact that he had the nine-tailed fox sealed inside him. No, it wasn’t that. She had no clue why people were so opposed to him, it’s not like _he_ was the one that attacked the village. The only reason she didn’t really like him was because he could just be _so annoying_ sometimes. And he was loud. And a troublemaker. Maybe she should be friends with him, though. It didn’t seem like he had very many.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and in came Sasuke’s #1 fangirls, Sakura and Ino.

“I’m first!” They both shouted in unison.

“I won again, Sakura,” Ino said.

“Give it up,” Sakura replied, “ I had to look _back_ to see you. My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead.”

“Have you always been this delusional?” The two stopped when they saw the Uchiha in the classroom. Sakura gasped and ran over to the desk he was at.

“Hi Sakura, what’s up?” Naruto asked as he stood and waved to her.

“Move it!” Sakura pushed Naruto away, and he fell to the ground. “Uh, good morning, Sasuke.” Sasuke turned his head slightly to look at her. “Mind if I sit next to you?”

“Back off, Forehead. _I’m_ sitting next to Sasuke.” Ino stated.

“I was here first!” Sakura yelled.

“They don't ever stop, do they?” Satoru asked. Minami sighed. It sure got boring when all they ever listened to was Iruka scolding Naruto, and Ino and Sakura arguing.

Soon, a whole crowd of fangirls started gathering around the two and joined in the argument about who gets to sit next to Sasuke. Naruto got fed up with how Sasuke got all the attention and hopped on top of the desk, just inches away from the Uchiha’s face. The two locked eyes and stared at each other angrily. Minami could only guess what would happen next.

“Hey, stop glaring at Sasuke!” Sakura shouted. Naruto broke eye contact with Sasuke to look at Sakura for a second, but turned his head back to continue the staring contest. The two glared at each other as the fangirls were going crazy in the back. Then, a kid sitting in front of Sasuke leaned back and knocked Naruto forward into Sasuke.

The two rivals locked lips in a _very_ uncomfortable kiss. Their classmates blankly stared at them for a few seconds.

“Well, that’s not the outcome I was expecting,” Minami muttered. Takuya and Satoru nodded. Sakura suddenly let out a screech. No doubt she was upset about Naruto being Sasuke’s first kiss, and not her.

The two boys turned away from each other and gagged. Minami swore she could hear Sasuke making death threats to Naruto under his breath. Only a few seconds later, Sakura had beaten up Naruto.

“As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you faced difficult trials and…” Minami zoned out as Iruka-sensei ranted on. She only perked up when she heard “three-man squads.” Maybe she could be put in a group with Takuya and Satoru.

“I will now announce the squads. Squad seven, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha.” Sakura cheered at her victory of being placed in the same team as Sasuke. Minami could see her cousin’s disappointment, as she was not on the same team as her crush.

“Next, squad eight. Hinata Hyūga…” Hinata nodded as Iruka-sensei announced the next members in her squad. “Kiba Inuzuka…” A boy with a furry coat and canine-like features looked up at the mention of his name. “Shino Aburame.” A guy with a coat that covered the lower half of his face readjusted his sunglasses. Minami hoped Hinata could make some new friends in her squad. Kami knows she needed the social interaction. 

“Next up is squad nine. Satoru Matsuda…” Takuya and Minami looked at each other hopefully. “Takuya Nakamura…” Takuya high-fived Satoru. Minami crossed her fingers in hopes of being put on squad nine. “And Minami Hyūga.” Minami fist-bumped Takuya and Satoru. This was going to be fun.

“Now, squad ten. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara,” Ino let out a disgusted sound. “...And Choji Akimichi.” Minami was glad she wasn’t on that team. She couldn’t stand to listen to Ino prattle on about Sasuke, and couldn’t imagine having to hear Choji chomping on potato chips all day, everyday. Shikamaru was the only decent member on the team. Actually, Minami wouldn’t mind being paired up with him because they actually shared a lot of similarities. They both wanted to just relax sometimes. Others call it laziness, Minami calls it selective labor.

“Iruka-sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be in a group with a slug like Sasuke?” Naruto asked as Sakura grew annoyed.

“Sasuke has the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores,” Iruka explained, “To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student.” Naruto and Sasuke started arguing and Iruka cut them off, adding, “After lunch, you’ll meet your new jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed.”

“Wanna go eat at Ichiraku’s?” Satoru asked. Minami and Takuya agreed.

“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up with you,” Minami said.

“Sure. What do you want? I can order it while we wait for you,” Takuya said.

“Um, I’ll just have the Miso Pork Ramen. Thanks!” Takuya nodded and the two left the classroom. Minami went to find her cousin.

“Hey, Hinata!” She called out. Hinata turned around to see Minami behind her.

“Oh, h-hey Minami. What’s up?” Hinata asked.

“I was just thinking, you should ask Naruto to eat lunch with you. Kinda like a date!” Minami offered.

“A-a d-d-date?” Hinata stuttered as her ears turned red.

“Hm. Maybe it’s better if you don’t think of it that way…” Minami muttered. “Ask him to go to lunch with you at Ichiraku’s. We’ll be there if you need us.” Hinata considered her offer, and accepted.

“All right! I’ll go find him!”

“That’s the spirit! Now go get him!” Hinata ran out of the room in search of Naruto. Minami was glad that Hinata was gaining more confidence. Hopefully, at some point, she will be able to tell Naruto how she feels. Minami left the academy and headed to Ichiraku’s.

Takuya and Satoru were already at the small restaurant waiting for her. They greeted her as she sat down on a stool.

“Perfect timing, Minami!” Ayame said as she set down the bowls on the counter.

“Thank you,” the trio started eating their ramen. Just then, they were joined by none other than Naruto and Hinata. Takuya and Satoru gave Minami questioning looks, but Minami just waved them off. As Naruto started ordering ramen, Minami and Hinata shared a sneaky under-the-table high-five at Hinata’s success in bringing Naruto to lunch.

As Naruto and Hinata made small talk, Minami noticed she was stuttering a lot. It was definitely less than she used to, but Minami would have to help her cousin with that. Overall, Minami thought it was going well. She didn’t know much about romance, but she picked up a few tips in the romance novels she usually reads (I know what you’re thinking, and no, she doesn’t read Icha Icha novels).

After they had finished their ramen, it was time to get back to the academy to meet their new senseis. By the time they got back to the academy, Hinata was stuttering a considerable amount less, and Minami was proud of her. Minami and her squad walked a few paces behind, and conversed about what was happening.

“So, why is Naruto here?” Takuya asked.

“You know how Hinata has a big crush on Naruto?” Minami whispered. They both leaned in and nodded. “Well, I convinced her to take him out to lunch. I know it’s not an official date, but it’s a step closer.” Takuya and Satoru nodded. They understood the fact that Minami wanted to help Hinata in her romantic life, since she didn’t have one of her own.

Now, it was time to meet their new sensei.


	4. New Sensei

Minami, Takuya, and Satoru walked into one of the empty classes to find a brown-haired jounin waiting for them.

“Oh, you’re here! You must be Takuya Nakamura, Minami Hyūga, and Satoru Matsuda, is that right?” The jounin asked them. She had long, brown hair, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a green vest, and a leaf headband on her forehead. And she was also kind of short.

“Yes, we are,” Minami politely replied, “And what’s your name?” They all took a seat as their sensei introduced herself.

“My name is Shiko Fujiwara. You can call me Shiko. Now, how about we do a little test before we go on any missions? I think the best way to learn about each other is in battle. So, tomorrow we will meet at the training grounds at 10 am. Don’t be late!” Shiko body flickered, and left the trio in the classroom alone.

“Well, she certainly is quite the character, isn’t she?” Satoru said.

“I’ll bet Takuya and Shiko-sensei will get along well,” Minami added. She waited for Takuya to say something, but realized he had already left the classroom.

“I’m going to get dango! Are you guys coming?” Takuya called from down the hallway. The other two sighed and caught up with him. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon guys, hurry up!” Takuya shouted.

“We’re right behind you. Calm down,” Satoru said. Minami rolled her eyes. The three had arrived at the training grounds to see their sensei waiting for them. She spotted the three and waved them over.

“Good morning! Now, what we’ll be doing today is fairly similar to what Kakashi will be doing with his team,” Shiko-sensei explained. The genin had no clue who Kakashi was, but guessed he was the leader of one of the other teams. “The point of the exercise will be the same, but instead of trying to take bells from me, we will be playing capture the flag. I will hide a flag, and you three have to find it and successfully capture it.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Satoru said.

“Well, let’s get started, shall we?” Shiko-sensei jumped into the trees and left the trio behind. A moment later, she returned to the group. 

“All right, I’ve hidden the flag. Good Luck!” Shiko-sensei body flickered, and disappeared from sight.

“Mina, can you find the flag?” Takuya asked.

“On it,” Minami said as she activated the byakugan and examined her surroundings.

“Any luck?” Satoru asked.

“No, not yet- wait. I think I see it. 10 o’clock, about 250 feet away.” Minami reported, deactivating her kekkei genkai.

“This is gonna be a piece of cake,” Takuya said. Part of Minami agreed with him, but part of her wasn’t expecting their sensei to go this easy on them. The squad headed off to find the flag. They stopped when they were about 30 feet away.

“Who wants to take it?” Takuya asked.

“Well, I doubt it’s going to be that easy. We should have one person make sure there’s no traps, and if Shiko-sensei appears, we can have two of us ready to attack,” Satoru said. 

“I’ll go first,” Minami said, “You two can use long-range attacks, so you can probably get an advantage.” The others agreed and got into position. As Minami got close to the flag, the ground rumbled and knocked her off balance. A large chunk of rock rose up and surrounded the flag protectively. Minami jumped back and activated her byakugan again as she scanned her surroundings in search of her sensei. 

“Up there!” Minami shouted as she spotted Shiko-sensei. Satoru threw a few kunai, and Takuya performed Water Style: Liquid Bullets. Shiko-sensei dodged the kunai, and jumped up to avoid the waves. Minami infused chakra into a punch to break the rock that was protecting the flag.

“You guys are better than I expected. Maybe I underestimated you,” Shiko-sensei said. She jumped in front of Minami just as the genin was about to take the flag. Minami jabbed a chakra-infused hand towards her sensei, aiming for one of the chakra points, but was unsuccessful. Shiko-sensei grabbed Minami’s arm to block her palm from hitting her, and counterattacked with a punch to the elbow. Minami jumped back after she took the hit, and Satoru threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached towards his sensei. As it hit its target, there was a loud explosion. The three genin held their breath as they waited for the smoke to clear.

Shiko-sensei was gone. She had disappeared, and the trio wasn’t sure where she was. Minami looked around with her byakugan, and tried to find the jounin. Takuya took the opportunity to grab the flag, but he didn’t get too far before Shiko-sensei popped out of the ground and swept her leg underneath Takuya’s, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Are you okay, Takuya?” Satoru called.

“That’s why you don’t just rush in, idiot! We need a new plan!” Minami shouted. Takuya got up, and the three retreated and huddled together.

“Okay, so, we know that Shino-sensei will attack us every time we get close to the flag. We need two of us to lure her away, so one of us can grab the flag,” Minami said.

“Minami and I can lure her away, you grab the flag, Satoru,” Takuya said. Satoru nodded and the three of them got back into position.

Takuya approached Shiko-sensei and once she stepped forward to attack, he dodged backwards and led her away from the flag. Minami jumped behind Shiko and got into her stance. Satoru snuck behind the three and ran for the flag. Minami jabbed at Shiko-sensei, hitting a chakra point in her back. There was a sudden poof, and in place of the jounin was a log. Minami turned around to see Shiko-sensei slam her foot into Satoru’s back, sending him flying. 

“Satoru!” Minami called.

“That was a pretty good strategy, I’ll give you that. But, I instantly noticed that there were only two of you instead of three. That was a dead give away. And not to mention, none of you bothered to suppress your chakra. Even if I couldn’t see you two, I knew you were behind me because I could sense chakra in that direction.” Shiko-sensei explained. “Now, I’ll give you one more try to take the flag.”

Minami nodded. This was going to be difficult, but they could do it. All they had to do was re-strategize and find a way to make up for what they didn’t do earlier. They formed a group again and decided on what to do next.

“I have an idea,” Takuya whispered, “It’s kind of like Minami’s idea, but instead you will distract her, Mina. I’ll go behind her and use a water style jutsu to push the flag towards you guys. Then all Satoru has to do is grab it before she does.”

“That’s… actually a really good idea. Let’s try it,” Satoru responded. Minami nodded and the group dispersed. Takuya and Satoru were sure to suppress their chakra this time. 

Takuya stealthily made his way to the other side of the flag, while Satoru stayed hidden. Shiko-sensei raised her eyebrow. She knew Takuya and Satoru were missing, but since she was no sensory ninja, she wasn’t sure where they had gone. Minami ran towards her sensei at full speed, byakugan activated and ready to strike. Shiko-sensei dodged every attack the girl sent. Suddenly, there was a huge wave of water headed her way. She jumped up to dodge the wave, and noticed that the flag had come loose from the ground and was floating atop the water.

She was too late to make a move for it, though, because in a second it was in Satoru’s hands. The water cleared up, and the four ninjas jumped back to the ground.

“Nice move. You did well suppressing your chakra, Takuya. Minami, you effectively took my attention off of Satoru and Takuya. Satoru, you had quick reflexes, and grabbed the flag before I could even think. You all realized your mistakes, and fixed them quickly. Overall, you three work together amazingly. I’ll bet that you guys are even better than Kakashi’s team.” Shiko-sensei praised.

The three genin smiled and high-fived each other. They definitely rocked this test, their teamwork was impeccable.

“Say, do you want to get lunch as a reward? I’ll pay,” Shiko-sensei said. The genin instantly accepted. After all, the only thing better than food is free food.

The newly formed squad made their way to Ichiraku. While they were there, they learned some things about their sensei. For example, Shiko-sensei had gotten to the jounin rank when she was only 12. And apparently one of her good friends had become a jounin when he was only 10! She explained how it was a time of war, so kids had become ninjas at a younger age in order for Konoha to have enough.

“So, are we going on any missions soon?” Takuya asked.

“Not today, but we do have a few missions tomorrow,” Shinko-sensei replied.

“What kind of missions?” Satoru asked.

“Oh, you’ll see tomorrow.”


	5. The First Misssion

“Gardening? Are you kidding? I thought we were going to go on an _actual_ mission,” Takuya complained. Minami had to agree, she wasn’t looking forward to planting some old lady’s vegetables.

“I know it doesn’t seem important, but people need help around the village,” Shiko-sensei explained, “And since you all are genin straight from the academy, who better to do it than you?” The trio groaned. Sure, it made sense that they were put on these missions because they weren’t very experienced yet, but still. How would they gain experience when all they did was babysit, garden, and do laundry?

“All right, time to get work! Remember, the quicker you do this, the sooner you’ll finish. I’ll check on you all in a few hours,” Shiko-sensei said as she started to leave.

“Wait, aren’t you going to help us? I thought you were a part of the team too! Why do you get to skip these ‘missions?’” Takuya asked.

“Well... I’m... going to meet someone. You three are more than capable enough to do this on your own. I believe in you!” And with that, the jounin jumped away, leaving the three alone.

Minami sighed. “In Shikamaru’s words, this is going to be _such_ a _drag_.” The others agreed and set off to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s it going?” Shiko-sensei asked as Minami hung the last towel on the clothing line to dry.

“We just finished,” Takuya said. All of a sudden, his stomach growled. “And we’re hungry! Can we get food now?” Shiko-sensei chuckled and agreed to get dinner with them. When they entered the small restaurant, they saw another rookie team eating ramen.

“Hey, Kakashi!” Their sensei greeted another jounin at the restaurant. Minami and her friends instantly knew that this was the man she had been talking about a lot, not just because of his name, but because of the way their sensei’s face lit up when she saw him.

“Hi, Shiko. Didn’t expect to see you again today,” The jounin, Kakashi, replied. Team 9 sat down next to Team 7, with Kakashi and Shiko sitting in the middle, and their corresponding teams on either side of them. Sakura had barely touched her ramen (she said it was because she was on a diet), and Naruto was already on his fourth bowl. Sasuke was the only semi-normal member on the team, as he had just started his second bowl. Kakashi had already finished his bowl, but didn’t want to order any more ramen. It took a lot of work to find some kind of distraction, so he could eat without the genin seeing what he looked like underneath his mask.

Kakashi and Shiko continued to talk as if they hadn’t just seen each other while their students were on missions. The three friends decided to order, since they knew Shiko-sensei wouldn’t stop talking to Kakashi. They seemed a little… close. Minami wondered if they were just friends, or if there was something more.

After a delicious dinner and long conversations between the friends, they all decided to head back home and get rested for the next day. Shiko said goodbye to her team, and body flickered away. Minami sighed, knowing tomorrow was going to be another day full of picking potatoes and folding laundry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Did you hear that Team 7 got back from their mission? Apparently, they had to fight an S-rank rogue ninja,” Satoru said as the trio walked to where they would be meeting up with their sensei. “Honestly, I’m surprised they’re still alive.”

“Well, they did have Kakashi with them. He _was_ in the ANBU Black Ops,” Takuya informed them. “You did know that, right?”

“...No,” Minami and Satoru said in unison.

“How did you even know that?” Minami asked.

“Oh, you know. They usually have that kind of information in the files inside of the Hokage’s Tower,” Takuya said casually.

“...”

“You _stole_ files from the Hokage?!” Satoru yelled.

“Hey, no! I didn’t _steal_ them, I just _borrowed_ them. There’s a difference,” Takuya retorted.

“There’s no difference when I’m still gonna beat your ass,” Satoru said calmly. Takuya sweat dropped and said,

“Hey, look. There’s Shiko-sensei. Hi, sensei!” He called to Shiko in an attempt to change the subject.

“Don’t think I’ll forget about this,” Satoru muttered.

“Hey! I have something for you guys,” Shiko-sensei said as she handed them papers.

“What are these?” Minami asked.

“They’re forms. I thought that you three would do a great job as higher ranked ninja, so I recommended you all for the chunin exams! All you have to do is sign these forms, and bring them to the academy. The test is five days from now, at 3:00 pm. And, if you don’t feel ready, you can always wait until next year.” Shiko-sensei told the group.

“Well,” Minami started, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to do it.”

“Count me in!”

“That makes three of us.”

“Great! This will be a perfect opportunity for you all to learn about different types of jutsus, and to expand on your skills. Remember to train before the exams! I’ll see you guys later!” Shiko-sensei jumped away. 

“I wonder where she’s off to in such a rush,” Minami said.

“She’s probably going to hang out with _Kakashi_ ,” Takuya said while making kissy faces.

“She probably is. They _do_ seem close…” Satoru agreed.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Takuya asked as the three huddled together. Minami and Satoru knew exactly what he was thinking. They _would_ make a good couple…

“We can spy on them to see how much they like each other. Kinda like gathering info,” Takuya added.

“You sure do love gathering info, don’t you?” Satoru hissed, obviously still mad that he broke into the Hokage’s office to steal files.

“Hey, when you put it that way, it makes me sound like a perv,” Takuya replied. Minami cleared her throat.

“Right, does that sound good?” Takuya asked.

“I’m in,” Minami said. “Any objections?” They both looked at Satoru. The boy in question just sighed.

“As much as I think we shouldn’t do this… I also think it’s a great idea.”

Takuya and Minami grinned victoriously. Now all that was left to do was to find the two jounin.


	6. The Stakeout

It took a while to find Kakashi and Shiko-sensei, but once the genin did, they weren’t surprised. The two jounin were at the training grounds sparring. Minami wasn’t expecting anything different. After all, Shiko-sensei was one of those people who would gladly train all day. The trio suppressed their chakra, and hid in the nearby trees.

The two adults were constantly dodging and counter attacking over and over again. They were in perfect sync with each other, continuously moving just enough so they could avoid each attack. Minami thought it looked oddly satisfying. It was like some perfect dance between the two friends.

Out of the blue, Shiko-sensei landed a hit on Kakashi, and she used the opportunity to pin him to the ground.

“They- oh my,” Takuya started to say, but he immediately lost his train of thought. Minami clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, and accidentally snorted. The others also covered their mouths and tried to not make any noise. They could under no circumstances laugh or their mission would be a failure.

“Looks like I win again, Kakashi,” Shiko-sensei boasted as she smirked triumphantly.

“Think again,” Kakashi replied as he flipped them over so their positions were reversed, their faces only inches apart.

“OH,” Takuya said while making sure he was just quiet enough for the two jounin to not hear him.

“Maybe we should leave while we still can?” Satoru whispered. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Minami saw the genin from Team 7 walking towards the training grounds.

“Oh no,” She muttered. Satoru and Takuya looked at her questioningly, but soon realized what was about to happen.

“Mission compromised,” Minami informed her teammates, “We can’t let them get any closer or all hell will break loose.” The two boys nodded, and the trio ran to block Team 7 from the training grounds.

“Oh hey, guys! Long time no see!” Minami smiled, trying to appear as though it was coincidence that the two rookie squads had run into each other.

“Ohhh hey, Minami! What are you guys doing here?” The blond asked.

“We’re…” Minami looked towards the two senseis in hopes that they had gone back to sparring, because she could not make up excuses on a whim to save her life.

“We’re headed to Ichiraku Ramen,” Satoru stepped up, “We just finished training. What about you guys?” Thank Kami for Satoru’s quick thinking.

“We came to see if Kakashi-sensei was around. He said he would be training,” Sakura responded. Minami and Takuya shared a look.

“Well, we didn’t see him. Maybe he’s at a different training grou-”

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura called as she spotted the white-haired shinobi. Minami, Takuya, and Satoru froze. They slowly turned around and… Kakashi and Shiko-sensei were sparring like nothing ever happened. The three let out a sigh of relief. They knew that if Naruto and Sakura saw what just happened, they would immediately point it out. The genin weren't sure what the two jounin would do then, but they didn't want to find out.

As Naruto and Sakura ran to meet up with their sensei, Sasuke looked at Team 9 suspiciously. They were definitely hiding something, but he didn’t care enough to ask about it. That is, until his curiosity got the better of him. Which wasn’t long after.

“What are you guys hiding?” He asked. The three sweat dropped.

“Nothing,” Minami answered.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Sasuke said flatly.

“I have to agree with him on that,” Takuya said under his breath. Minami elbowed him in the ribs and he clenched his side in pain.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. We were just trying to figure out how to get Kakashi and Shiko-sensei together,” Minami said. 

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted as he turned to walk away without giving a proper response, showing his uninterest. Although, he kind of wanted them to get together, too. Not that he’d ever admit it. He joined the rest of his team on the training grounds.

“Um… what was that supposed to mean?” Takuya asked.

“Beats me. What did we expect, though? I mean, this is _Sasuke_ we’re talking about,” Minami replied. Satoru sighed. He was just happy they didn’t get caught. Minami, however, was slightly disappointed that nothing happened. She wanted them to just tell each other how they felt already. Man, it’s hard being the village matchmaker. The team decided to join the other shinobi for training. Not once did the jounin show any affection towards each other the entire time. This was going to be harder than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one was a short chapter, but the next one will be longer.


	7. A/N

I want to add in a love interest for Minami, but I’m not sure who I want it to be. So I wanted to ask your opinions!

Personally, I’m leaning towards Suigetsu. I’m not sure how I’ll incorporate it into the fic, but I’ll try.

If anyone has any suggestions, please comment them below.

Also, please have it be around Minami’s age, so any of the Konoha rookies or Team Taka. If I do someone from Team Taka, the romance will start way later. Also, please suggest male characters. I only really have experience writing m/f relationships, so I’m going to do that.

Thank you for your support!


	8. Chunin Exams: Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I meant to get this chapter out sooner, but I just recently started Attack on Titan and I've been binge-watching that... you know how it is. Anyway, I wanted to add a kind of inner monologue for Minami to make things a little more interesting (Basically inner Sakura). Let me know if you like it. Enjoy this chapter!

The first day of the chunin exams had finally come. Minami, Satoru, and Takuya had already set off for the academy, despite it being 30 minutes before the first test would start. They were excited and nervous all at the same time.

“What do you think the first test will be?” Minami asked as the trio pushed open the doors to the academy.

“Well, considering the exam will have multiple parts, it will most likely be a written test. I heard there will be a lot of participants, so there will probably be one to weed out the genin that aren’t ready,” Takuya explained.

“Or you just eavesdropped on a conversation about the exams and found out that way,” Satoru muttered. There was some commotion coming from the second floor, but the friends ignored it and continued on to the third floor.

“Hey! Just because I happened to get a hold of some files doesn’t mean I snoop around all the time!” Takuya said in defense.

“Sure, you just _happened_ to get some classified files,” Satoru replied sarcastically. Minami sighed. Satoru was never gonna drop this.

“Well, I was curious! You would be too if-”

“We’re here,” Minami said as the three came to a stop in front of a set of doors. The others immediately straightened up and looked at each other. This was it. The chunin exams were right on the other side of those doors. Minami drew in a breath. She wondered if they were really qualified enough for this. They hadn’t done anything remarkable, except maybe stopping a robbery while they were out of the village.

Maybe they’re just really good at running errands. Minami shook the thought from her head and regained her composure. They were going to kick ass at these chunin exams, dammit.

“You ready?” Minami asked. The two boys nodded and pushed open the doors.

They were instantly overwhelmed with the amount of people piled inside the classroom. There were genin from pretty much every village Minami had ever heard of. This would be difficult.

“Hey, Minami,” the purple-haired Hyūga called out, “I didn’t know you were taking the chunin exams, too.” Minami turned toward Hinata.

“Well, I didn’t know you were either. We’ll just have to battle for the title of chunin, huh?” Hinata looked at Minami nervously, like she knew she didn’t stand a chance against her cousin. She then shook off that look, and it was replaced with determination.

“Yeah, I guess we will,” Hinata replied. Minami smiled. It was nice to see Hinata having more confidence in herself.

Just then, the door burst open, and in walked the one and only Team 7. Naruto and Sakura looked shocked at the amount of people that were present. 

“W-what’s this?” Naruto asked as he stared at all the examinees.

“Gee, I guess we’re not alone,” Sakura said. Minami silently agreed with her. She knew there would be a lot of people, but this was outrageous. Then again, the chunin exams only rolled around twice a year, so there was bound to be a lot of competition.

“Sasuke, where have you been?” Ino cried as she suddenly launched herself onto Sasuke. Minami rolled her eyes. She would never see the appeal that all the girls had for Sasuke. Sure, he was hot, but he was kind of a jerk. He never paid any attention to even one of his fangirls.

Sasuke looked irritated as Ino hugged him and argued with Sakura. Hinata and her team stepped forward to greet the others.

“Well, well, what do you know? It looks like the whole gang’s back together again,” Kiba said.

“Hi, Naruto,” Hinata said as the blond turned to face her.

“Hey, Hinata. I didn’t expect all of you guys to be here, too,” Naruto said.

“Man, this is going to be fun. At least, for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right, Sasuke?” Kiba challenged. Minami rolled her eyes again. Sometimes Kiba could get way too cocky. It was kind of annoying.

Minami shook herself from her thoughts and turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

“We’ve been training like crazy,” Kiba bragged.

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Naruto countered, “Sitting around picking daisies? You don’t know what training means!”

“Don’t mind Kiba,” Hinata butts in, “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” Minami looks over to see Hinata blush when she catches Naruto’s attention. She also notices the look on Kiba’s face. She couldn’t really tell what it was. Realization? Maybe he’s figured out that Hinata has a huge crush on Naruto. But then why did he look hurt afterwards?

“Hey, you guys,” a white-haired boy called out to them, “You might want to try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offense, but you guys are the rookies, right? Fresh out of the academy? I wouldn’t go making a spectacle of yourselves.”

“Well who asked you?” Ino shouted, “Who _are_ you?”

“I’m Kabuto Yakushi,” the shinobi responds. _Doesn’t_ Kabuto _mean something like “helmet?” Pretty dumb name if you ask me,_ Minami thought.

“Kabuto, is that your name?” Sakura asked.

“Yeah,” Kabuto responded.

“Is this your first time taking the exam?” Kabuto hesitated.

“No… it’s my seventh.” _Really? He’s so bad that he couldn’t pass on at least his third try? Not to be judgemental, but… that’s kinda pathetic._

“Wow, you must really be an expert by now,” Sakura said. Kabuto just agreed with her.

“Cool! You can give us all the inside tips!” Naruto shouted.

“Yeah, some expert. He’s never passed,” Shikamaru said.

“Well, seventh time’s the charm. That’s what they say, right?” _God, this guy’s an idiot._

“So I guess what they say about the exam being tough is true. Oh man, I knew this was gonna be a drag,” Shikamaru complained. _Amen._

“Hang on, don’t lose hope just yet. I may be able to help you guys with my ninja info cards,” Kabuto said as he took out a stack of cards. _Ninja info cards?_

“What the heck are those?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain, but these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I’ve learned about the other contestants for the past 4 years.” _That wasn’t very hard to explain._ “I’ve got more than 200 of them.” _Is he some kind of stalker?_

He then showed them how the cards conceal information so other people can’t read them. He explained how the villages regulate the amount of people who become shinobi, bla bla bla. Minami couldn’t care less.

“Do you happen to have information on every candidate in those cards?” Sasuke asked. _So now we got another stalker._

“Possibly. Do you have someone special in mind?” Kabuto asked the Uchiha.

“I do.”

“Well, I can’t promise that all of the information I have is perfect, but I do have information on just about everyone.” _Man, I really don’t like this creep. Where the hell did he even get all this information?_

“Well, who is it?” Kabuto asked.

“Gaara of the desert. And also Rock Lee.” _Rock Lee? Isn’t he that freaky bowl cut kid on Neji’s team?_

Kabuto shuffled through the cards and brought out two of them.

“Here they are,” He said. _How does he even know which one’s which when he can’t even see what’s on them?_

“Show them to me,” The emo genin said intensely.

“Okay, first up is Rock Lee,” The white-haired shinobi flipped over one of the cards, allowing the information to appear on it. Minami craned her neck to see better, and spotted Neji on the card, along with their female teammate. _I was right._

“Looks like he’s about a year older than you guys. He’s been on 20 D-rank missions, as well as 11 C-ranks.” _Seriously, am I the only one who’s creeped out by how much this guy knows?_ “His squad leader is Gai. In the last twelve months, his taijutsu has radically improved.” _I could probably use some training from him._ “This will be his first time participating in the Chunin Exams, same as you guys.

“His teammates are TenTen and Neji Hyūga.”

“Hey,” Takuya whispered, “Isn’t that your brother?” Minami nodded in response.

“Okay, now for Gaara of the desert. Mission experience, 8 C-ranks. And get this, 1 B-rank as a genin.” _Didn’t Kakashi’s squad go on a high ranking mission, too? They fought Zabuza Momochi, so I’ll bet it was also a B-rank. Maybe even an A-rank._ “There’s not a lot more information on this guy, but there’s also this. Every mission he’s been on, he returned without a single scar.” All the genin had looks of shock on their faces. Minami sighed. _Well, this is gonna be_ real _fun._

The stalker pulled out another card that showed how many shinobi came from each village. Konohagakure obviously had the highest count with 75 genin. Otogakure, on the other hand, had only 3 genin. [A/N: By the way, Otogakure is the Hidden Sound village]

“The Hidden Sound village is small. It sprang up only recently, and no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery,” Kabuto explained. _Wow, even the stalker knows nothing about them?_

Kabuto put his cards back in the deck. “Well, you get the point. Competition’s going to be intense this year.”

“So it would seem,” the shy Hyūga spoke up, “It’s almost enough to make you lose your confidence.” _Oh, she_ better _not lose her confidence._

“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Satoru sighed.

All of a sudden, Naruto yelled and pointed his finger at all the other contestants. _Oh, god. What’s he doing now?_

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I’m gonna beat every one of you. BELIEVE IT!” Minami sighed. Knucklehead. Most of the group started yelling at Naruto and asking if he was “trying to get them killed.” 

Sakura put Naruto in a headlock and said, “Naruto, you jackass! Why’d you have to go and say something like that?” Hinata was looking at Naruto with concern. Minami caught Kiba scowling at Naruto.

The pink-haired girl immediately let Naruto go when she saw everyone staring at them, and started apologizing. Everyone went quiet as a sound ninja jumped forward, aiming for Kabuto with his kunai. The stalker dodged the kunai effortlessly. Another sound ninja stepped up and aimed a punch at Kabuto. The shinobi dodged the punch and smirked.

Out of nowhere, the sound of glass shattering was heard. Minami looked over and saw Kabuto holding his lensless glasses. She frowned. _Didn’t that creep dodge the punch? Why did his glasses break?_

“I see. So it was that kind of attack,” Kabuto said while he acted as if nothing had happened.

“You guys saw that, right?” Hinata asked her cousin’s squad. Minami nodded. “He didn’t even get hit. What happened?”

They snapped their attention back to Kabuto as he collapsed to the floor and vomited.

“Nasty,” Takuya muttered.

“Kabuto! Are you okay?” Sakura asked worriedly. Everyone seemed just as shocked as her. Sakura and Naruto ran over to Kabuto and helped him up.

“Not such a tough guy, after all. Write this on your little card, punk. The genin from the Sound Village will be chunin when this is over. Guaranteed.” _Is that supposed to be threatening? The whole breaking Kabuto’s glasses thing was, but that comment sure isn’t._ Still, Minami felt unease growing in her stomach.

A puff of smoke appeared at the front of the room.

“All right, you baby face degenerates. Pipe down and listen up,” The voice said as the smoke dissipated. “It’s time to begin. I’m Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment on, your worst enemy.”

_Wait a minute… isn’t that the guy that works in Torture and Interrogation? Oh, we’re so screwed._


	9. The Exams Begin!

Everyone was staring at the proctor at the front of the room. He was very tall, wearing a leaf headband and a long coat. He had two scars across his face, which made him look intimidating. Minami swallowed the lump in her throat and looked straight ahead as the man spoke up.

“You Sound Ninja! Who told you you could fight? You want to be failed before we’ve even begun?” One of the ninjas turned to the proctor.

“Sorry. This is our first time. I guess we’re a little… jumpy,” The ninja with bandages covering his face replied. Ibiki scoffed.

“I’ll only say this once, so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates. You are only allowed to fight if instructed to by your proctors, but even then there will be no use of fatal force. If anyone disobeys these rules, they will immediately be disqualified. Got it?” Ibiki glared at the contestants. Some voiced their complaints, while others accepted this without hesitation. “Now, we will begin the first stage of the Chunin Exams, the written test.” _So I guess Takuya was right. Just a written test. This’ll be a piece of cake. Hopefully._

“All right. Before we begin, we need to discuss a few rules. And no questions,” Ibiki said. _No questions? I can already tell this is going to be bad._ “You will start out with 10 points. For every answer you get wrong, a point will be subtracted from your score. Also, your score as a team will determine whether you pass or fail.” _Well, it’s a good thing our squad is smart,_ Minami smirked. 

After Sakura’s short outburst about scoring, the proctor continued listing off the rules. “There will be sentinels positioned around the room to make sure you don’t cheat. If you are caught cheating, you immediately lose 2 points. If you are caught 5 times, you are kicked out. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating doesn’t deserve to be here.” _Sheesh, why are they so hung up on cheating? It’s almost like they want us to cheat._

“Also, if anyone in here receives a zero, the whole team fails.” _Oh god. I better not screw this up._

“Begin!” Minami looked down at her paper and read the first question. _It looks like… a code? So we have to figure out what this code says. Okay, this shouldn’t take long._ Minami put her pencil to the paper and began deciphering the code. 

After a few minutes of trying to solve the code to no avail, Minami paused. _Okay, I’ve gotten nowhere. I have no idea how to decode this. Whatever, I’ll just try a different question… Yeah, none of these make sense. At least, they take way too much brain power._ Minami sighed and leaned back against her chair, looking around at the other candidates. Judging by the looks on their faces, Minami could tell they were just as stuck as she was.

“Hey!” Minami snapped her head up and met the eyes of one of the shinobi stationed around the room. “Eyes on your own paper,” The shinobi said. Minami nodded and looked down. She could hear her heart beating so loudly that she wondered why no one else could hear it.

Minami closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Focus. There’s gotta be something you’re missing._ She opened her eyes again and sneakily activated her byakugan. _If they’re so focused on catching us cheating, then the point of this test has to be to see how well you can gather information._ Minami snorted, _This must be a breeze for Takuya. I’ll bet he’s halfway through this already._

Minami searched around for a test full of answers. She found two ninja who seemed to know every answer, as they had almost all of the questions down. She grinned and picked up her pencil to copy what the other two had written.

There was some commotion at the front of the room as what looked like a water bottle fell over. The force of the water caused someone’s test to be swept a few seats down the row. Minami watched as it landed right in front of Takuya. _He probably used his Water Style to knock over the water. Nice one, Takuya._

Minami finished up writing her answers and looked around for Satoru. She didn’t want to write all of the answers down, so she would seem less suspicious. She had 7 questions filled out, and was still waiting for the last fifteen minutes to start in order to get the 10th question.

Minami spotted the brunet at the end of the row in front of her. He was lucky- he got placed right next to one of the ninja with all the answers. All he had to do was look over and write down what he saw. _He must’ve figured out the purpose of this test already. If we weren’t supposed to cheat, there’s no way he would be stealing those answers right now._

“All right. I will now be giving you the 10th and final question,” Ibiki called out to the genin. Minami drew in a deep breath. _Just one more question to go. Hopefully it won’t be too hard._

“There will be a few more rules that apply only to the final question,” Ibiki added. “Listen up and try not to be too frightened. First of all, you may choose not to be given the final question. It’s your decision.” _What? Why would we choose_ not _to take it?_

“If you choose not to take the 10th question, you automatically get a zero. That means your whole squad fails. But, if you choose to answer the last question and you get it wrong, not only will you fail… You will never be allowed to take the chunin exams ever again!” _Wait, you won’t be able to take it again at all?_ Minami and Satoru made eye contact. They were going to have to really think about this.

If they failed this question, they would never be allowed to be chunin. Then again, there is a chance that they could become a jonin without being a chunin first. Still, it would be risky. 

“If you want to leave, raise your hand. Your name will be recorded, then you can go,” Ibiki stated.

The sound of feet shuffling to the door filled up the room as most of the genin gave up hope on becoming a chunin. Minami was trying to look at the pros of taking the last question, but seeing all of these shinobi getting up and leaving was bearing down on her. What if she got the question wrong? Then not only would she fail, they would never become chunin. But if she walked away, she would be letting her best friends down. 

_Well, we’ve gotten this far already. Might as well keep going._ She looked up to see Takuya and Satoru staring at her, waiting to see what her decision will be. Minami let out a sigh and regained her composure. She looked at her teammates and just grinned. The others smiled back and prepared themselves for the final question.

_I hope Hinata decides to stay. She would make a great chunin._ As if Hinata read Minami’s thoughts, the princess looked back at her cousin. Minami simply gave her a thumbs up and mouthed _You’ll do great._ Hinata visibly brightened and turned back to face the proctor.

Minami gasped as she saw Naruto raise his hand. _Really? Of all people, Naruto wants to leave? I didn’t expect that._ All of a sudden, Naruto brought his hand down on the table with a loud thud, making Minami jump a little.

“Don’t underestimate me! I don’t quit and I don’t run! I don’t care if I get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life! I’ll still be Hokage someday!” Naruto yelled. Minami smiled. _That’s the Naruto we know. Of course he wouldn’t give up._

“Well, then, I admire your determination. For those of you remaining, there’s only one thing left to tell you,” Ibiki said. Minami gulped. _This is it._ “And that is… that you’ve all passed the first exam.”

…

…

…

“What?!” Sakura yelled. “Hold on, where’s the tenth question?”

Ibiki laughed. “Well, there is no tenth question. Not a written one, at least. The answer to the last question was your decision to stay.” _No wonder this guy works in the Torture and Interrigation corps. This whole test was torture!_ Minami exhaled a sigh of relief. _Hey, at least we passed._

Ibiki took the time to answer some of the questions the genin had about the test. Minami, on the other hand, wasn’t paying attention. All she could think about was how hungry she was.

In a split second, the peace was disturbed as the window shattered, and in jumped a woman with purple hair. She stood up straight and spoke up.

“I’ll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi.” _Hey, isn’t that the lady we always see by the dumpling shop?_ “You ready for the second test? All right, follow me!”

“...Anko. You’re early again,” Ibiki sighed. _She kinda reminds me of Shiko-sensei._

“Why are there still so many candidates? I think your test was too easy, Ibiki,” Anko teased.

“No, we just have a large group of promising candidates this year,” Ibiki explained.

“Hm. They don’t look like it. Alright, you maggots have had it easy so far. But things will be different starting first thing in the morning. For now, you are dismissed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nice job getting the answers, Takuya. I probably wouldn’t have gotten any without the Byakugan ‘cuz I would have never come up with something like that,” Minami complimented.

“Yeah, I just have a big brain. Unlike you and Satoru,” Takuya boasted.

“Hey, I was trying to be nice,” Minami laughed.

“How did Satoru get the answers?” Takuya asked.

“Oh, he had it easy. One of the guys that had all the answers was right next to him,” Minami said.

“Hey, at least I _got_ the answers,” Satoru replied.

“Yeah, you took the easy way out,” Takuya stated. Minami sighed. As much as she loved making fun of her teammates, she had other things on her mind.

“All right, I could really go for some food right about now,” Minami said to her teammates as she stretched her arms.

“I second that. How about we get Shiko-sensei to pay?” Takuya asked. Satoru sighed.

“Well, free food is always good, I guess,” Satoru replied. Takuya grinned. _Now all we have to do is find Shiko-sensei._

“Any guesses as to where she might be?” Takuya asked. As if on cue, Shiko-sensei appeared in front of the trio along with Kakashi.

“Hey, kids! How did it go?” The brunette asked.

“We all passed!” Takuya said excitedly. Shiko-sensei smiled and wrapped her arms around the genin’s shoulders.

“How about we get some ramen? I’m treating,” she said. _Well, that was easy._ The three nodded. “Hey, Kakashi, do you want to come with us?”

“I’ll pass this time. I want to go see how Naruto and the others are,” Kakashi responded.

“All right. Well, suit yourself. Let’s go!” And with that, the trio walked off to Ichiraku Ramen. _Man, I hope the next test won’t be too hard…_


End file.
